The Problem
- WordPress and static site contact forms default to sending email — no API, no webhook, no automation
- Building a custom form handler backend means server costs, uptime monitoring, captcha, rate limiting, and spam filtering
- Contact form emails pile up in a shared inbox with no triage, no SLA, and no audit trail
- Form submissions in Gmail/Outlook can't trigger downstream workflows — CRM, Slack, ticketing — without fragile forwarding rules
- GDPR requires deleting form data on request, but email inboxes have no deletion API
Why Existing Solutions Fall Short
WordPress plugins like Contact Form 7 and WPForms only send email — no native webhook support without paid add-ons
Formspree and similar SaaS form handlers work but lock you into their platform and pricing
Custom form backends require server maintenance, SSL certificates, and spam protection
Netlify/Vercel form handlers only work on their platform — no portability
Email parsing tools (Zapier Email Parser, Mailparser.io) add cost and latency between the form and your system
You shouldn't have to build this yourself.
How Mailhooks Solves This
Form email → instant webhook
Point your contact form at a Mailhooks email address. Every submission arrives as structured JSON at your webhook URL within seconds.
Works with any form
WordPress contact forms, Netlify forms, HTML mailto forms, static site generators — if it sends email, it works with Mailhooks.
Zero backend required
No server to maintain, no SSL certificates, no uptime monitoring. Mailhooks receives the email and delivers the webhook.
Built-in Notion, Discord, n8n
Route form submissions directly to Notion databases, Discord channels, or n8n workflows — no webhook handler needed.
Spam filtering
Sender filtering lets you block or allow specific domains and addresses before they reach your system.
GDPR-friendly storage
Form submissions are processed and forwarded — not stored indefinitely in an inbox. Delete data on request via the API.
How It Works
Create a mailhook
Set up a mailhook address for your form (e.g. [email protected]).
Point your form at it
Configure your contact form to send submissions to the mailhook address. Most form builders support this natively.
Choose your destination
Set up a webhook URL, or use built-in integrations for Notion, Discord, or n8n.
Form submitted
A visitor submits your form. The form emails the submission to your mailhook address.
Webhook fires
Mailhooks parses the email and delivers structured JSON to your destination — name, email, message, all pre-extracted.
Code Example
Your contact form sends an email. Mailhooks delivers this JSON to your webhook or integration.
Webhook Payload
{
"id": "msg_form_abc123",
"from": "[email protected]",
"to": ["[email protected]"],
"subject": "Website Contact Form: Quote request for enterprise plan",
"text": "Name: Jane Smith\nEmail: [email protected]\nCompany: Acme Corp\nMessage: We'd like a quote for the enterprise plan for 200 users...",
"html": "",
"threadId": "thread_form_456"
}Handler Code
// Send form submissions straight to Notion
// No webhook handler needed — use Mailhooks built-in integration
// Or handle with a simple webhook:
app.post('/webhook/contact-form', async (req, res) => {
const { from, subject, text } = req.body;
// Auto-create a support ticket
await createTicket({
email: from,
subject: subject,
body: text,
source: 'contact-form',
});
// Notify the team
await slack.notify(`New contact form submission from ${from}`);
res.sendStatus(200);
});Frequently Asked Questions
Every inbox can be configured with sender filtering rules. You can whitelist specific domains or email addresses, or use our webhook to implement your own spam filtering logic. Emails that don't match your rules are automatically rejected.
Webhooks are typically delivered within 100-500ms of email receipt. We process emails in real-time with no polling delays. For high-availability applications, we also offer webhook retries with exponential backoff.
Mailhooks is built specifically for inbound email. We offer simpler setup (no DNS changes required for testing), better attachment handling with direct download URLs, and a developer-first API for fetching emails programmatically—perfect for E2E testing.
Yes! You can connect your own domain with simple DNS configuration. We also provide free subdomains on inbox.mailhooks.dev for testing and development.
We automatically retry failed webhooks with exponential backoff for up to 24 hours. You can also use our API to fetch any missed emails. All emails are stored and accessible via the dashboard.
Get Started in 3 Steps
Takes ~2 minutes — no email infrastructure required.
Create a Mailhooks account
Sign up for free in seconds.
Create an inbox
Get a unique email address for your use case.
Add your webhook URL
Point to your endpoint and start receiving emails.